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Questions about fungal (a bit long!)

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Kikikickin

Kikikickin

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I've searched the forum quite extensively about fungal and still not been able to find the answers to my questions, so apologies for starting yet another fungal thread.

I have a few questions, so any help with any of them would be much appreciated :)

Ok, so on my vet friend's advice, I started using Mycil ointment to treat Chilli's fungal on her nose and foot (a cream that treats athlete's foot and other fungal infections) and this worked immediately and the hair was starting to grow back. I forgot that I needed to continue with the ointment even after I'd seen improvements malletheadmallethead The patch where the hair is growing back is fine, but there is a new patch on her nose and a new patch on the same foot. (I feel terrible!)

So, since my friend is off travelling for a few months, I have taken her to our local vets practice, one of whom is knowledgable about guinea pigs (yippee!) However, she advised that daktarin would be as good as anything they could give me and informed me that it flared up again because I stopped treating her. So I've had her on Daktarin for a week now and not seen improvements really, just that it's not as red, and unless I'm being paranoid I think it's spreading slowly. Now I'm wondering if I should continue with the Daktarin or change back to Mycil?

On my friend's advice I have thrown the wooden toys out, but I forgot to ask her and my vet whether I need to throw their hidey out? It's one of those that they can chew on and is made of hay/straw. Also, should I throw out the cardboard tube? It has only just occurred to me, that although it's not wooden per se, it is made from trees!

Final question, up until now I have been soaking the cage and accessories in bleach when cleaning out, but I managed to obtain some F10 antiseptic liquid soap from freecycle, and it seems as though it is just for cleaning hands/body. Could this stuff not be used for cleaning the cage too, or is it a different F10 product?

Ok, sorry for my stupidity and long rambling, and help would be much appreciated with any of the questions.-c

TIA,

Kiki, and Chilli (and Wogan)
 
You need to throw away anything cardboard/wood (so yes to hay tunnels). The cage and everything in it needs to be disinfected with anti fungal cage cleaner. also spray your carpets or anywere the piggie may have been. Have you tried a nyzerol bath yet? Ive found it to be very effective.

when david had fungal i sat and went right through his fur with a nit comb to get out any infected hair then bathed twice over a week with nyzerol. worked a treat.
 
yup, get rid of everything, carry on with the daktarin - great stuff...

F10...isn't that stuff that companies use for cleaning floors and things?
 
ACh, was writing a reply and computer decided to play up mallethead

Thanks for your posts, have not tried nizoral yet, but am getting some tomorrow for sure! have bathed them with gg's manuka and neem since the fungal turned up, but from reading posts now see that's more preventative than treatment.

I've had sheets down while they've been out for floor time so they've been bleached and washed. Think there is bit of the carpet they have been on, so what should i spray with?

hmm, have seen F10 mentioned somewhere on GPF before, and from the bottle it def is not a floor cleaner! From the bottle I gather that it is a fungicidal soap. I am just wondering if it might work for cleaning the cage too? OR is it okay to soak with bleach and water?

About the Daktarin, I've heard/read lots of good things, it's just that it seems to be getting worse since I've started using it :( and I feel so bad putting it on Chilli since she hates it, and feel awful that I have to keep applying it for longer than if i'd just carried treatment on. Should I still carry on even though I haven't seen improvements and it looks to be getting worse?

Then, the other thing I'm not sure about is the things that are in there at the moment. eg some toilet roll tubes and card board boxes as hideys. They've only been in since treatment started. At which point do I throw these out?
 
Fungal always gets worse before it gets better. The creams bring it to the surface and treat it, so it always looks terrible before it gets better.

Tbh I would use virkon to disinfect the cages, I've put a link on a similar thread for a small packet you can buy off Internet. Replace any tubes and boxes whenever you clean them out.
 
ahh, phew that makes me feel better! I thought I was doing something wrong as it seems to be getting worse. i've been feeling rotten because Chilli doesn't like me very much any more and I feel like all the progress we made before the fungal has been lost. Hopefully the nizoral will make a big improvement.

My OH has just given me the Trigene sample that came in the post today, which is fungicidal and sporicidal. Has anyone had any success with that?

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Don't suppose you know what I should spray the carpet with?:)
 
i just used the wilkos cage cleaner on mine left it to dry then gave it a good hoover.

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/guinea...EDTKQ3JPm9NHX2MJD1czBnDTZsfYFTl0 CB6bZakbpA==

nyzerol is from boots btw.

I swear by Neem oil. I use pure neem oil though not shampoos. I bathed david in nyzerol then warmed up some neem oil rubbed it right through is coat and left it for two days. Then bathed again with nyzerol. poof gone!
 
Whilst many disinfectants do indeed claim to have "sporicidal activity"....on checkin the data sheets, many of them are only active against bacterial spores and fungal vegetative growth so are not the best to use in ringworm situations where you need to eliminate the fungal spores.

I have checked the datasheets for several heavy duty disinfectants including virkon, trigene and others..and, unless i've misread something, the only one i have found that claims activity against the fungal spores that cause ringworm in piggies is F10 which is what i will use if i have any future ringworm cases. (trigene, virkon etc are fine for bacteria and viruses)

The hand gel may not be concentrated enough to be effective so it would be better if you sourced either the F10SC spray or concentrate.

HTH

x
 
Thanks again for all replies. After reading up a lot since the vet visit (she did shine the uv light on it, and i know that is in no way conclusive now) I'm confused because I thought ringworm was a type of fungal infection. But, judging from Pebble's response and a lot of what I have read, fungals infections and ringworm in guinea pigs are considered to be one and the same. So am I right in thinking Chilli probably has ringworm? Or could it just be a different fungal infection?
 
There are lots of different types of fungal, some cause only dry skin which is easily remedied with daktarin or similar creams. There is another type which causes very itchy skin, pigs then end up scratching a lot and creating large scabs which then heal and take hair off with them - again, another 'easy' one to shift. Then you've got ringworm, which is a nightmare to shift, and there are several different types of ringworm, caused by different bacteria. Ringworm needs creams, topical treatments and shampoo-ing with anti-fungal to get rid of, as well as cleaning the hutch and everything the pig comes in contact with - it can also be spread to other animals and humans. So total nightmare.

It does sound a bit like he might have initial stages of ringworm, but it could very easily be any of the others - you just never know with fungal. Keep treating it until it does go, and even then, treat it for a short period of time afterwards.
 
Thanks, that makes it much clearer! It cleared up very quickly and easily the first time when I started treatment, but since I didn't realise I had to carry on a while after it's come back, and now seems to be getting worse as I said. We shall see how the nizoral works! Thanks for taking the time to reply! It's all very complicated! :{
 
It can get very confusing, but the best rule to go by is if there's dry skin...treat for fungal first! If that doesn't seem to make any difference (no better, no worse) then treat for mites.

good luck with them :)
 
When you say nyzerol!?
Is that for humans!? but you can use it on guinea pigs aswell!
Ive noticed that my guinea pig has got like scabs on her nose, but shes had a white line on her nose for ages but their like a red scab next to it now!
 
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